Page 9 of Training Maisy

Chapter 6

The next morning, Maisy woke, and her first thought was to roll over and continue sleeping. But she knew this was just an attempt to keep herself from going to the gym, so she forced herself to sit up.

Maybe I should just get a cat or dog that would wake me every morning and keep disturbing me to feed him. She thought about all the cost that would entail and decided against it. Trudging to the bathroom, she brushed her teeth and then walked into the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee. She leaned on the kitchen counter while the java brewed. In the meantime, she just soaked in the new kitchen. She knew she was ready to start cooking again, had been ready for a while, but was just waiting to want to actually step into the kitchen and prepare something from scratch.

From the time of the breakup, the only thing she had done in the kitchen was boil water or heat something in the oven. The few times she actually felt like eating involved her calling in for a takeout, only to stop eating midway when memories of Eric calling her fat and ugly invaded her mind. But today, standing in the kitchen, she suddenly felt like cooking something from scratch, missing the whole routine of washing and slicing and measuring that used to be her one pride and joy. Seeing that the coffee was done, she poured herself a mug and walked back into the living room. She loved her coffee black, no sugar or cream, a fact that constantly baffled Brittany because Maisy had a sweet tooth. She spent a few minutes surfing through the TV channels long enough to recognize she was just putting off going to the gym again.

Maisy stood and went into her bedroom to change into the tracksuit she had worn the yesterday. Underneath it, she wore a push-up bra and a tank top and comfortable stretchy yoga pants below. Walking outside, she checked to see if there were any signs Chloe was awake yet but saw no sign of her new friend being up and about. So, she set off to the gym, hoping it was still too early for it to be as crowded as it was yesterday.

Getting to the door, she realized her prayers had been answered as the gym wasn’t as crowded as it had been the day before. Actually, there was only one person in the gym, working on a set of weights and unaware of his surroundings, or at least he didn’t give any signs that he had noticed her enter. He just kept pushing up and down an impressive stack of weights, his shoulder muscles bunching and relaxing and making some parts of Maisy clench and relax. It didn’t help that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Maisy froze in her steps, the purse she was clutching in her hand held loosely as she stared at the perfect embodiment of the male specimen in front of her. The weights kept going up and down without any apparent effort, and apart from the soft sheen of sweat that covered his upper torso, Maisy would have found it hard to believe he was doing anything at all. She could hardly believe one person could be so fit, all those hard lines, all that muscle. He was like a cold scoop of chocolate marshmallow ice cream on a hot summer day, and for the first time in months, Maisy was panting for a bite. A big bite with her teeth and tongue and . . .

“You like what you see?” a voice said, breaking into Maisy’s reverie, but not quite enough to bring her back to earth because she just nodded her head in answer to the question, a totally flirty and unashamed smile making her lips curve.

“Well, let me know when you’re done ogling me,” the voice continued, this time loud enough that Maisy blinked once, then twice as she realized the gorgeous hunk of meat she had been staring at was now sitting up and looking at her, one of his brows raised questioningly. Immediately, Maisy blushed so deeply she was sure the subject of her recent fantasy could see the physical proof of her embarrassment spread across her face. Her first thought was to hightail it out of there and find the deepest, darkest corner of the world to burrow into, but remembered she’d already played that card the day before. Doing it again would probably be more embarrassing, so she had no choice but to face him this time. Planting her feet firmly enough on the floor, nothing she could do about her knees that quivered a little, she looked him square in the face.

“Umm, sorry about that,” she said in a surprisingly steady voice that was a sharp contrast to the pounding in her chest. “Hi, I’m Maisy. I was here yesterday. Don’t know if you remember me?”

“Yes, I do,” he said, standing up from the inclined bench and approaching her. Still shirtless, still dripping with sweat, and still gorgeous as hell.

“You registered here and then ran out like something was chasing you.” He stopped right in front of her and folded his arms. Looking straight ahead, Maisy was staring at his Adam’s apple as it bobbed up and down as he talked, a fascinating sight for sure. But her eyes dipped a little bit lower involuntarily, so she was instead staring at the two hard masses that were his chest. His naked chest. Swallowing audibly, she swung her head back up to investigate his face, her cheeks flaming even hotter.

“I’m sorry, but can you please put on a shirt? It’s kinda hard to concentrate in the face of all this.” Her hand made an encompassing gesture, pointing at his chest and arms. He kept looking at her for a few seconds, seeming to want to say something, then reconsidered and walked into a small office at the back of the gym. The moment he left, Maisy let out a sigh of relief as she fanned herself with her hands in a bid to calm herself. She couldn’t believe how giddy one guy was making her feel, as if she hadn’t seen a shirtless man before. But she had to admit, she had never, ever seen one with quite as impressive a physique as her trainer.

She looked around the gym and felt this odd sense of peace; the big complex looked quite impressive and with no one in it at this time of day. Maisy thought she understood why he would do his workout at this hour. She wished he would fix her sessions this early in the morning, partly because it meant there was no one around to see her struggle with weights or the treadmill or whatever medieval torture device he might want to force on her. But also because she felt really motivated just looking at the empty room. She just hoped she didn’t become too flustered when dealing with Carter, or she could at least make sure he didn’t know how attractive she thought he was. She snuck a look in the mirror and saw a full-length reflection of herself, and suddenly it was like someone poked her fantasy bubble with a needle. What made her think someone as physically perfect as Carter would want to have anything to do with a fat lump like her? The guy worked in a gym, for goodness’ sake, and saw bodies that were more fit and toned than she could ever hope to be. Her mood, that was a little bit up just a moment ago, suddenly went down, and she found it hard to work up a smile when she heard him come back to meet her.

Carter put on a sleeveless t-shirt, admitting to himself he was surprised she had come back to the gym. As he walked out, he wondered exactly what it was that had made her run out the day before. And even more than that, if there was any danger of her doing the same thing after they started. It would be best to find out now, so he didn’t begin training with her until he was sure she was truly and fully committed. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d started working with someone only to have them quit when they felt the pressure. As he walked out, he remembered the look on her face when he interrupted her ardent perusal of his form earlier and had to smile at the way she had reacted. He also had to admit that he was impressed with the way she had handled herself after the initial embarrassment. He saw her still standing where he had left her with her back turned to him, and for a moment, his eye was drawn to her figure in the tracksuit. He frowned at that, wondering what her obsession with tracksuits was.

“Hey,” he called out to her, “have you finally decided to go through with it?”

She turned to look at him, and for a moment, Carter thought she looked less happy than she did when he left her, but he shrugged that away.

“Yes, I am, and sorry about yesterday. I had an emergency at home.”

Carter looked at her for a few seconds, as if he didn’t believe her at all, but after a few moments, seemed to decide not to pursue the matter.

“I just want to make sure that whatever it was that made you run out faster than the Flash on a pizza run won’t make you quit the program halfway through.”

“There won’t be a problem with that, I assure you,” Maisy said as she looked up at him with steely determination, the initial exuberance she had shown when she first entered a little bit muted now.

“Okay, as you know we don’t open the gym until eight a.m., and we close at eight p.m. every day except weekends or special classes. So, we would need to find a time that would be best for both of us to—”

“Actually,” Maisy interrupted him, “I was thinking I would much rather have our meetings when no one is around. Like right now or maybe after everyone has left for the day.”

Carter looked at her, and for a few seconds, Maisy was afraid he would ask her why, but he ultimately decided not to and instead said, “Okay then, but as time goes on and you start doing this on your own, you may need to have someone you can work out with. Easier to stay committed that way. Let’s see what we can do this morning, and before the end of the day, you should get an email that will tell you what the schedule is going to be. Just let me know which times aren’t convenient for you, and we can see how to fix that, okay?” he said, looking at her to make sure she got everything he just said. Maisy nodded in affirmation.

At this point, there was a part of her that was already questioning if she would be able to do this or even wanted to do this anymore. The minor epiphany she just had in front of the mirror was still fresh on her mind, and even though Carter had been nothing but nice and courteous to her, she still couldn’t help imagining him laughing at her when she started to exert herself during the program. But for now, she had no choice but to follow him.

First, he took her on a small tour of the whole gym complex, and Maisy realized it was a little bigger than she had thought it was. There was a room filled with cardio machines and rows and rows of treadmills. Another corner of the gym had weights of various sizes and for different purposes. There were some rooms set aside for specific classes like yoga or group workouts.

“Whoa, didn’t know this place was as big as this,” Maisy commented as they came to a smaller room at the back of the gym.

“It’s the front of the building; it looks narrower from outside but extends to the back. So, this is where you’re going to be doing most of your training, except if I say otherwise or we need a particular machine elsewhere.”

“Okay,” Maisy said, looking at the room. She saw that one corner had been set aside for free weights; another corner had two static bikes, a treadmill, and a workout machine. The center of the room was free and a mirror covered the wall in front of her from top to bottom. The equipment here looked clean and well cared for, and it was clear they weren’t as new as those in front. The static bikes were sporting mismatched handlebars, and the labels on some of the weights had been partially worn off.

“Funny, this place looks a little older than the rest of the gym,” Maisy commented offhandedly as she set her purse on a counter in front of the mirror.

“That’s because this was the original gym before I rented the whole complex to expand it. Had to take a loan to do that, but I’m glad I did,” Carter said, giving her a goofy grin, clearly proud of his gym. Maisy realized it was the first time he had actually smiled at her.

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